A glimpse of the United States military telegraph corps, and of Abraham Lincoln

n Glimpse

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Jg^nitcd States

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William tB. Wilson,

A fliilitrapy Telegraphcf ir\ Cctav Time.

^

A GLIMPSE

OF

Tlie PiiM State Military Tdejrapti Corps

AND OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

BY

WILLIAM B. WILSON,

A MILITARY TELEGRAPHER IN WAR TIME.

READ BEFORE THE

UNITED SERVICE CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA

[by request],
January 16, 1889.

HOLMESBURQ, PHILADELPHIA.

i

MEYERS PRINTING AND PUBLISHING HOUSE, HARRI6BUBG,

t

[Entered foi' copjnight.]

//// a/

To the mBmnry of my cnmradES u/hn [eU during the
gvBat Civil Ular, BacrificES to patrintin duty, wsll per-
fnrniEd, this papsr is lovingly dEdicatsd by

THE RUTH OR.

(3)

(4)

A GLIMPSE

or

Tk Doited States

The golden dream of empire, which had haunted the
waking and sleeping moments of the cultivated aristocratic
ruling class of the Gulf States, and of the land barons of
South Carolina and Georgia, aided and abetted by imprac-
ticable legislation and fanatical expressions of latitudi-
narian doctrines of government by agitators throughout
the Northern States, had at last brought about that most
deplorable of all conflicts — civil war. It was a serious
hour for the principles of self-government by the people
as represented by the Constitution of the great American
Republic.

Sumter had been fired upon, and the emblem of our na-
tionality was lowered at the demand of revolting citizens.

In this crisis. President Lincoln called upon the various
States for 75,000 men to restore the authoritv of the Na-
tional Government.

In response to that call, the men, who in the preceding

election liad voted in the North for Lincoln, for Brccken-

(5)

6 A Glimpse of the

ridge, for Douglas and for Bell with a fair number of
Union-loving men from the South, rushed forward, as with
a common impulse, shoulder to shoulder, with a patriotic
impetus inborn of love for and devotion to country.

I can yet hear the swish of the waves of patriotism as
they broke upon the shores of Rebellion.

No persons rushed with more patriotic fervor to the
field of Mars than did the boys of the telegraph. It was
my fortune to be made manager of the military telegraph
office in the War Department early in the struggle, and it
is, therefore, with confidence I speak of the organization
and efficiency of the Military Telegraph Corps of the
United States Army.

On the 27th of April 1861, on the order of Simon
Cameron, then Secretary of War, David Strouse, Homer
Bates, Samuel Brown and Richard O'Brien, four of the
best and most reliable operators on the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company's telegraph line, arrived in Washington and
formed, under Thomas A. Scott, of Philadelphia, the germ
out of which grew the best disciplined, the most wonder-
fully accurate, reliable and intelligent army telegraph corps
ever known to the world. The quartette was rapidly fol-
lowed by others, until, throughout the length and breadth
of the army, over twelve hundred young men enrolled
themselves in the corps, and rendered such services as had
never before been performed for any government. Their
ages ranged from sixteen to twenty-two — boys in years,

United States Military Telegraph Corps.

bojs in stature, but giants iu loyalty, and giants in the
amount of work they performed for their country.

A better- n a tured, more intelligent-looking or harder-
working band of young men did not exist in the army
They were ready and willing to go anywhere at a mo-
ment's notice, and, if necessary, to work day and night
without rest uncomplainingly. Oft times they were sent
where the sky was the only protecting roof over their
heads, a tree stump their only office, and the ground their
downy couch. Provisioned with a handful of hard bread,
a canteen of water, pipe, tobacco-pouch and matches, they
would open and w^ork an office at the picket line, in order to
keep the commanding general in instantaneous communi-
cation with his most advanced forces, or to herald the first
approach of the enemy. When retreat became necessary
it was tlieir place to remain behind and to announce that
the rear guard had passed the danger line between it and
the pursuing foe.

All the movements of the army, all the confidence of
the commanders were entrusted to these boys, and yet not
one was ever known to betrav that knowledo^e and confi-
dence in the most remote degree.

The military telegraph eventually assumed, under Gen-
eral Eckert, colossal proportions, its ramifications extend-
ing to every portion of the Union where a Union soldier
could be found. Its delicate, yet potent, power was felt
and appreciated by every department of the Government

8 A Glimpse of the

The system, as perfected, was elaborate and complete in
all its details — the bo3^s constructed and operated during
the war, within tlie lines of the army, 15,389 miles of
telegraph, and transmitted over six millions of military
telegrams. Of the latter, a large proportion were in the
secret cipher of the Government, the keys of which w^ere
solely in the possession of the operators.

The boys didn't plan campaigns or fight battles, but
amidst the fiercest roar of conflict they were to be found
coolly advising the commanding general of the battle's
progress.

When the army, in all its grand divisions, was in mo-
tion they were to be found in the advance, in the rear, on
the right, left and center — wherever duty was to be per-
formed ; and when the army was in repose a thousand
general officers had them at their elbow^s.

The corps was the very nerves of the army during the
war, and was so considered by all those that came in con-
tact with it, and yet it was not, and has not been, recog-
nized as an integral part of that army.

Tts services were great; its sacrifices many. Beginning
at Yorktown, whei'C poor Lathrop was murdered by one
of Magruder's buried torpedoes, from East to West and
North to South, as our grand armies marched and fought,
until Rebellion's knell was sounded at Appomattox, al-
most every field, almost everv march numbered one of the
telegraph bo3^s among the fallen

United States Militarij TelecfrapJi Corps,

A liuiKlrecl nameless graves throughout the battle-fields
of the Uiiiou attest their devotion unto death to the sub-
lime cause in which they were engaged, and \qX the Gov-
ernment they loved and hibored for never as much as
thanked -them for their services. It is a sad reflection,
when old memories come back, that of the twelve hundred
boys composing that corps there are not three hundred left.
^yhere are the remainder? Those that did not lay down
their lives in action succumbed shortly after the war from
wounds, and from the effects of exposures and imprison-
ments.

Here let me say of the dead : Not a funeral note was
sounded as they passed into the earth ; not a flower is cast
upon their mounds as Memorial Day comes around.

And of the survivors : Not a door swings upon its
hinges to welcome them into any of the vanous organiza-
tions of the loyal men w^ho fought the battles of the Union,
and to-night, in this presence, T stand alone, the one ex-
ception, where one of the cor})s has been invited to par-
ticipate in any of the ceremonies or entertainments of a
society formed of persons who served in the army or navy
of the United States during the great liebellion.

A few of the officers were commissioned, and, in con-
sequence, are borne upon the rolls of honor, but the rank
and file, who performed the principal duties, although
obliged to take an oath of allcfiiance and of secrecy, not
being technically sworn into the service, were disbanded

10 .1 Glimpse of

witlioiit a word of thanks or a scrap of paper showing that
thev had honorably discharged their trying duties.

Secretary of War Stanton said, in one of his reports to
Congress: "The military telegraph has been of inestima-
ble value to the service, and no corps has surpassed it."

Since the war. Congress has been appealed to to right
the wrongs and enroll the coips, but, notwithstanding
Grant, McClellan, Hancock, Sherman, Sheridan, Burnsides,
Warren, Rosecranz, Sanborn. Porter, Smith and others
have urged that tlie services of the corps were invaluable,
and its members shamefullv treated, and General Loean
and J. Donald Cameron exerted their utmost endeavors,
from their seats in the United States Senate, to have jus-
tice done, the wrong remains unrighted.

'Twas an hour fraught w^ith gloom, wdien the maddened
bullet, speeding from the murderer's weapon, laid low the
head of that mighty chieftain, who was the one, had life
been spared him, that would have seen justice done the
corps. But the coi'ps, like humanity in general, suffered
when Abraham Lincohi died.

Et was through my connection with the corps that I be-
came acquainted with Mr. Lincoln, and it is for that reason
I have grouped a glimpse of him with a glimpse of it.

Abraham Lincoln. 11

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

The multitude of sketches that liave been written on the
life, cliaracter and public services of Abraham Lincoln
make me hesitate in speaking of the impressions of him
that were left on my mind hx daily contact with him dur-
ing the first year of his administration of the presidency.
This hesitation is rather increased than diminished wlien
I consider that his fulsome eulogists, under the garb of
confidential friends, have so surrounded his memory with
a halo of deity that to speak of him as I saw him may be
looked upon as a misrepresentation. The tragedy of his
death, and the tight hold he had upon the |)opular heart
at that time created the opportunity for opening the flood-
gates of flattery, which, to a great extent, have obscured the
true character of the man.

I first saw him in Harrisburg, on an evening in Feb-
ruary, 1861, as he emerged from the side door of the Jones
House, in the judicious act of flanking any hostile move-
ment that might be developed by the threatening attitude
of Baltimore as he proceeded to Washington and his fate.
At that time, although conceding to him honesty of inten-
tion, I did not accept him as an oracle. My political edu-
cation had been in the strict construction school, and I had

12 A Glimpse of

onl}' then returned from South Carohna to place myself
on the side of the Union. Knowing the earnestness and
intensit}' of the feeling in the South, I looked upon his
speeches from the text of "nobody hurt'' as belittling the
gravit}' of the situation. Towards the close of April, 1861,
however, I was called to Washington as military tele-
grapher in the Department of War, and in that capacity
came in contact with Mr. Lincoln many times daily, and
often late at nights. He was always on terms of easy fa-
miliarity with the operators, and it was through that fa-
miliarity that my acquaintance with him was formed.

I soon saw a man before me with a kind heart and char-
itable disposition, who had a dut}' to perform that he in-
tended performing with a conscientious exactitude. In
the many teles^rams he indited or dictated, and in the con-
versations he had with Secretary of State Seward, ^vho
almost invariably accompanied him to the war telegraph
office, lie displayed a wonderful knowledge of the country,
its resources and requirements, as well as an intuition of
the needs and wants of the people.

He was entirely unselfish, and in his exalted position
did not seem to think of himself for himself. The srreat
cause of perpetuating the Government entrusted to his
care seemed to absorb his whole time and thought. When
he acted it was from a sense of duty, and whatevei- the
effect such action might have upon himself I don't think
influenced him pro or con.

Abraham Lincoln. 13

There was nothing ornamental in or about him, and to
depict him in the ornamental light is to detract from his
true greatness, which consisted of his being a true repre-
sentative of a great people and a great principle of gov-
ernment.

Mr. Lincoln's shining characteristic was his extreme
simplicity. He thoroughly recognized the true import of
his position to be the serving of the people, and he tried
to so conduct the administration of affairs that whoever
looked upon him in the presidential chair should see re-
flected the power, the intelligence, the charity, the great-
ness of a great Nation. His acts were all studied in the
school of duty, and were, to the extent of his information,
the expressions of the national will. This was nowhere
more notable than in the issuing the Emancipation Proc-
lamation. To make him a god of freedom on account of
his j)romulgating that paper which released the country
from the curse of slavery is to give him attributes he never
claimed, and to imply motives he would have spurned.

The Emancipation Proclamation was not issued solely
in the cause of freedom, or soleh' to liberate the slaves, for
Mr. Lincoln and the political party which had elevated him
to the presidential office were committed to the strange
doctrine that although slavery was an evil not to be ex-
tended yet it was to be tolerated and protected because of
its existence. He announced most earnestly in his inau-
gural address that he had no purpose to interfere, directly

14 A (jlim2yse of

or indirectly, with the institution of slavery in the States
where it existed. That he did not depart from that policy
until he was compelled by the stern necessities of war and
the readiness of the people for such depai-ture, is a matter
of historical fact. Tis true he entertained emancipation
views, but they were based upon emancipation by com-
pensation, attended by colonization, that was to be reached
through independent State action. When Gemeral John
Cochrane, of New York, in the fall of 1861, suggested
and advocated the arming of the slaves, and Simon Cam-
eron pressed for the same object in Cabinet councils, both
knowing that it was a practical emancipation measure, and
that the slave, by its adoption, would become his own
emancipator, Mr. Lincoln did not second them in their
efforts because he did not think it the will of the people.
He declared his purpose to be the execution of the laws
and the maintaining the union of the States inviolate. But
as the war of the Rebellion drew on apace, larger and
larger in its proportions, and fiercer and fiercer in its ani-
mosities, with variable results to the contending parties,
the emancipation of the slaves became an absolute military
necessity, and with that necessity came the Emancipation
Proclamation. Its origin and standing rests nowhere else.
The slaves were declared free, not because slavery was
wrong, but for the same reason that the enemy's horses,
cattle, houses, wagons and lands were taken from him — to
cripple him in his resources.

Ahrahaiii Lincohi. 15

'Twas duty to the country, not justice to the slave, and
Abraham Lincohi claimed no other credit.

He was not a god, and it is unseemly sacrilege to paint
liim in colors wherein he might be mistaken for such. lie
was a man, with all the attributes that enter into manhood.
He had all tlie tastes, ambitions, affections, longings and
passions of other men, but he had them under a complete
control, so that they might be used for the benefit of com-
mon humanity, and not alone for self-gratification.

There was nothing false about him, for while he might
curtain his thoughts and intentions as a matter of tempo-
rary policy, it was not for the purpose of deception, but
simply to guard against the plucking of unripe fruit.

'Twas not into ancestors' graves that Abraham Lincoln
dug for the clothes that were to clothe him in the garb of
manhood. He studied the laws of his Creator to find the
material from which to shape them, and he found it.

Despoiled of his titles, honor and power, and introduced
solely as the homely, honest man he was, into that Ameri-
can society that seeks the tracery of a ducal coronet on its
escutcheon, and that obtains its principal sustenance from
the phosphorescent light emanating from the bones of long
buried ancestors, he would have been thrust out as an un-
welcome guest.

Whilst he was kind and tolerant to those of different
opinions from his, and freely communicated with all those
with whom he came in contact, yet he impressed me with

16 A Glimpse of

being a man who had but one confidant, and that confi-
dant hiniself.

Before coming to a conclusion. I will narrate some an-
ecdotes of the man that came under my personal observa-
tion :

In the fall of 1861 fires in Washington City were of fre-
quent occurrence, without any organized adequate means
for rapidly extinguishing them being in existence there.
This condition of affairs was a source of so much anxiety
to the country at large that no sooner was a Washington
fire announced in the newspapers of the principal cities
than tlie mails would teem with patriotic offers to the
President, from all sections, for the formation of fire bri-
gades, as a component part of the army, for the protection
of the Capital. This was one of the many great annoy-
ances of irrelevant subjects thrust upon the President in
those trying times, but he bore it all as a part of the re-
sponsibilities resting upon him : yet at last he was com-
pelled to rebuke it from sheer lack of time to give it any
attention. One night the Washington Infirmary burned
down, and, as customary after such a disaster, the next
day brought the President the usual complement of offers
for fire engines and firemen. Philadelphia's patriotism,
true to its ti-aditions, could not await the slow progress of
the mail, but sent forward a committee of citizens to urge
upon the President the acceptance of a fully equipped fire
brigade for Washington. On their arrival at the White

Abraham Lincoln. 17

House thev were duly ushered into the Executive Cham-
ber and courteously and blandly received by Mr. Lincoln.
Eloquently did they urge the cause of their mission, but
valuable time was being wasted, and Mr. Lincoln was
forced to bring the conference to a close, which he did by
interrupting one of the committee in the midst of a grand
and to-be-clinching oratorical effort, by gravely saying, and
as if he had just awakened to the true import of the visit,
"Ah ! Yes, gentlemen, but it is a mistake to suppose that
I am at the head of the fire department of Washington.
I am simply the President of the United States." The
quiet irony had its proper effect, and the committee de-
parted.

The personal familiarity of Mr. Lincoln, shown in his
intercourse with the war telegraphers already spoken of,
cannot be better illustrated than by relating a few personal
encounters with him.

September 26, 1861, was an appointed day for humilia-
tion, fasting and prayer, and was generally observed
throughout the North. We operators on the military
telegraph were extra vigilant at our posts; our boy George
was engaged in preparing a " Daniels' battery " when,
shortly after noon, Mr. Lincoln entered the War Depart-
ment office. Spying George, he accosted him with " Well,
sonny, mixing the juices, eh ?" Then taking a seat in a
large arm-chair, and adjusting his spectacles, he became
aware that we were very busy. A smile broke over his

18 A Gliini:)se of

face as he saluted us with " Gentlemen, this is fast day,
and I am pleased to observe that you are working as fast
as you can ; the proclamation was mine, and that is my in-
terpretation of its bearing upon you." Then, changing
the subject, he said, '' Now, we will have a little talk with
Governor Morton, at Indianapolis. I want to give him a
lesson in geographj^ Bowling Green affair 1 set him all
right upon ; now I will tell him something about Mul-
draugh Plill. Morton is a good fellow, but at times he is
the skeeredest man I know of."

It was customary for Mr. Lincoln to make frequent calls
at the war telegraph office, either for the purposes of di-
rect telegraphic communication or to obtain what he called
news. One day in September, 1861, accompanied by Mr.
Seward, he dropped into the office with a pleasant "Good
morning; what news?" Responding to the salutation, I
replied, "Good news, because none." Whereupon he re-
joined, "Ah ! my young friend, that rule don't always hold
good, for a fisherman don't consider it good luck when he
can't get a bite."

On another day, also accompanied by Secretary Seward,
he came into the office. They seemed to have escaped from
some one who had been boring them, and the President
appeared to be greatly relieved as he sunk into an arm-
chair, saying, "By Jings, Governor, we are here." Mr.
Seward turned to him and, in a manner of semi-reproof
said, " Mr. President, where did you learn that inelegant

Abraham Lincoln. 19

expression?" Without replying, Mr. Lincoln turned to
us and said, "Young gentlemen, excuse nae for swearing
before you ; by jings is swearing, for my good old mother
taught me that anything that had a hy before it is swear-
ing. I won't do so any more."

Mr. Lincoln was entirely free from political intolerance,
although at times he was compelled to permit its exercise
by others. I experienced an application of his broad
views. A few days prior to the Pennsylvania election, in
October, 1861, I went to the White House and reported to
the President that I was going over to Pennsylvania for a
few days, and that I would leave the war telegraph office
in charge of Mr. Homer Bates, who would keep him as
thoroughly advised of passing events as T had been doing.
With his peculiarly humorous smile breaking over his face,
he said, "All right, my young friend, but before you go
tell me if you ain't going over to Pennsylvania to vote?"
I replied affirmatively, adding that it would be my first
vote in my native State. Upon his questioning me still
further, I told him I was a Democrat in politics, and ex-
pected to vote for the ticket of that party. Then, with
the remark " Oh, that's all right ! Only be sure you vote
for the right kind of Democrats," he bade me good bye.

On the 27th of August, 1861, our pickets beyond Ball's
Cross Roads had been driven in and an attack upon our
lines was anticipated, the enemy being reported as advanc-
ing in force along the railroad. General McClellan was on

20 A Glimpse of Abraham Lincoln.

the Yirginia side giving liis personal attention to his com-
mand. About nine o'clock in the evening Mr. Lincoln,
in company with two other gentlemen, came into the office
to be ^'posted." I told the President that General Mc-
Clellan was on his way from Arlington to Fort Cochrane,
that our pickets still held Ball's and Bailey's Cross Eoads
and that no firing had been heard since sunset The Presi-
dent then inquired if any firing had been heard be/ore sun-
set, and upon my replying there had been none reported,
laughingly said, '' That puts me in mind of a party who
in speaking of a freak of nature, described it as a child
who was black from the hips down, and, upon being asked
the color from the hips np, replied black, as a matter of
course.

I could go on indefinitely relating such anecdotes, but I
refrain, and will conclude by saying :

Abraham Lincoln will live in the correct history of his
times as one who was unflinching in his devotion to duty,
unswerving in his fidelity to a great cause, one whose every
breath poured forth the purest sentiments of patriotism ;
and as one who tried to live a manly life within the bounds
of his comprehension of manhood's aims and duties.

William B. Wilson.
Holmesburg^ Philadelphia.